No, the National Trust didn't blacklist a volunteer for pointing out spelling mistakes

‘National Trust blacklists volunteer who pointed out spelling mistakes’, ran a damning headline in the Daily Telegraph as the paper continues its war against the national institution turned cardigan-clad Antifa.

It told the story of Andy Jones, a 71-year-old volunteer at the trust for more than a decade, who sent a dossier of thousands of misspellings and errors in literature to the charity’s director-general in the hope that they would be corrected, only to be told it was “not in line with our organisational values” and was banned by the trust from volunteering at any of its sites.

“His case is the latest example of the trust dismissing or suspending volunteers over claims that they do not meet its ‘culture’ or ‘values’,” the Telegraph fumed, drawing parallels with other “examples of the organisation’s pursuit of a progressive culture, which has included exploring properties’ links with slavery and colonialism and asking some staff to wear rainbow lanyards”.

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Still, it would appear to be an overreaction by the trust – only, in true Telegraph style, that’s not exactly what happened. Rather than being blacklisted for pointing out spelling mistakes, Jones was told he was no longer welcome after emailing his local branch to complain about the charity’s Northern Irish director general Hilary McGrady. It read: “No reply, acknowledgement, let alone thanks from the Oirish [sic] Dame on over 400 hours spent on her crappy not fit for purpose webs****e”.

A spokesperson for the Trust said that, while unable to comment on specific members, “We can say that no-one would be told they were no longer welcome as a volunteer simply for pointing out grammatical errors on a website and this would not lead to relationship breakdown. Relationship breakdown tends to occur after a series of incidents.” Jones has admitted that his language was inappropriate, but says he was stressed at the time as he is suffering from stage two prostate cancer.

So, not blacklisted for pointing out spelling mistakes, and no rainbow lanyards to be seen. What a start to the year for the Telegraph!